Quick mock-ups

This is kinda cool.  One of my biggest frustrations in dealing with a development team that doesn’t sit in the same place as you do because showing them what you mean with a drawing is almost impossible.  I suppose you could mock-up stuff in Excel, but, really, you might as well stab yourself with a fork.  Or you could draw something on paper, scan it and email it around, but what if you don’t have access to a scanner or want to change something?  Or, you could go through your User Experience group, but that’s a big gun for what might be a small problem.

Balsamiq allows you to create mockups pretty quickly – not as quickly as scribbling something on paper, but pretty close.  It seems like a good tool for Product Managers in a high iteration process.

Pandora Radio

I’ve just discovered Pandora Radio.  When did the world get so cool and pass me by?  I’m blown away by this.  All this work and love that must have gone into it and then they are just giving it away.  It is a stark reminder of the possibilities that passion provides and a reminder of my own mediocrity.

Mushroom and Feta Frittata

Dinner for C and me:  Cook some mushrooms on medium high heat preferably in butter.  Cook some thinly sliced onion in a separate pan on low heat until nice and caramelized.  Add a chopped jalapeno to the onions and cook together.  Combine these with the mushrooms and keep aside.  Beat 8 eggs with salt and pepper.  Start a non-stick pan on medium low heat.  Put some butter in the pan and wait till it heats up a little.  Spoon some of the beaten eggs into the pan and swirl around until it forms a “skin” at the bottom of the pan.  Add the mushroom-onion mix to the pan and spread out so it covers the whole skin.  Add the rest of the eggs and put in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Once that’s done, grate some parmesan cheese on top and put under a broiler to cook the top of the frittata and melt the cheese.  Sprinkle feta cheese liberally on top and replace under broiler until the feta is melting and creamy.  Cut a slice and eat with a dollop of sour cream.  Left-overs for lunch.

Dessert: piece of dark chocolate and two-fingers of single malt over ice.

Eggs for dinner are grossly under-appreciated.

Development Capture of Product Management

When I first became a product manager, I was alloted a team that developed software using Agile methodologies.   The team was great and, in what I think is a classic product management rookie mistake, I became their spokesman to the outside organization.  I drank the kool-aid on Agile and was pretty upset that other groups in the organization weren’t Agile.

While I think Agile is a strong product process, the product manager should be flexible enough to handle development teams with many different methodologies.  Becoming religious about these things never helped anyone.

As Rich Mironov says, a product managers are “The honest brokers who balance customer needs with engineering realities, market requirements with financial goals.”

Notice the word “balance” in the above quote.  Product management cannot be “captured” by development.  But if you are a tech oriented PM or if you used to code in a former life, this is an easy trap to fall into.

More here.

Ind vs. NZ

So, when was the last time the Indian cricket team provided this level of comfort to its fans?